There are gingerbread bakers and gingerbread artists.

And then there are gingerbread overachievers.

Perhaps the folks representing the Black Box Cabaret would fit into that category, coming up with an elaborate castle to house the Ord Wort's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - right down to a "Harry Otter" complete with glasses.

Some of the other houses featured shredded wheat roofs, melted Lifesaver ponds and marshmallow cream mortar.

And some of the gingerbread creations weren't mere houses. There was the "Freedom Train," station and railroad tracks created by the team from University Advancement, and the iPod "family" designed by the folks from Center for Academic Technology.

The gingerbread house-building venture came out of a discussion among members of the holiday party planning committee two years ago. They hit upon the idea of having the campus community build the houses and then using them for centerpieces at the annual party. This year, 13 teams - representing about 50 employees -participated in the competition. Each group was given a kit consisting of the basic pieces and encouraged to let their imaginations run wild.

As for rules - there were only two: everything had to be edible, and the base couldn't exceed 14 inches by 18 inches.

Dennis Hungridge of Human Resources coordinated the event.

And while we're on the subject of gingerbread overachievers...

Sodexho chef Bruce Brown created this 51-pound, 100 percent edible gingerbread otter and university crest to welcome staff and faculty members to the campus holiday party.

Over 31 hours of labor - and weeks of planning - went into creating the confection.

Ingredients include: • 75 cups of flour • 15 cups of sugar • 1 gallon of molasses • 4 cups of water • 6 pounds of powdered sugar • Secret spices and pixie powder

Chef Brown wishes to thank Dan Kaupie, Bill Steacy, Erika Price and Gokhan Aksoy for their help.